The production of feature-film animation is a lengthy and complicated task, sometimes requiring the resources of an entire studio for a period ranging from one to three years after a script has been completed. Animation for feature-films is generally of the highest quality involving several cell layers, extensive background work, and careful attention to production details such as cell cleanliness, image detail and accuracy.
Due to the intensive and costly labor requirements associated with animation, numerous steps have been taken to integrate computers into the process of generating feature-film animation. There are substantial advantages to be gained by utilizing digital techniques in the preparation of cartoon backgrounds and characters. For instance, painting with a computer graphics system is a rapid, easy process which allows a great leeway for editing and correction. Additionally, optical scanning can be used to automatically input completed characters and background paintings. For example, after a particular background has been stored in the system, color palettes can be altered, allowing the artist's painting to suffice for two different backgrounds; one as a night scene and the other as a day scene. Several computer graphic methods currently exist for converting animator's pencil sketches into full color images. The computed colored sketches (cells) can be easily combined with foreground and background layers to produce completed frames In addition to offering considerable savings in labor, these methods provide editing and correction capabilities which were previously not implementable by conventional animation techniques, Mark Levoy, "COMPUTER-ASSISTED CARTOON ANIMATION"--Masters Thesis, Cornell University (August, 1978).
In the past several years, many innovations have occurred, enabling systems to accommodate the intensive computational and storage requirements associated with computerized animation. For example, in an article entitled "YABBA DABBA DEC," Digital Review (Sept. 15, 1986), a system is described for handling the image data requirements for television production purposes. The article describes a supercomputer-central-processing system consisting of a VAX cluster arrangement incorporating two VAX-11/785s, a VAX 8650, a HSC50 mass storage controller with twelve RA81 disk drives and two RA78 magnetic tape drives.
Although the system described may be acceptable for television image data requirements, it is inadequate for the enormous data requirements associated with feature-film animation. Due to the extremely high data requirements associated with recording on high resolution films (feature film animation is typically recorded on 35 mm film), the centralized processing strategy quickly becomes a bottleneck for storing, updating and transferring digital image data. Under such circumstances, the production efficiency for creating computerized feature-film animation is substantially degraded.